Search Results for: science

Swearing emerges by age two and becomes adult-like by ages 11 or 12. By the time children enter school, they have a working vocabulary of 30-40 offensive words.

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The Science of Swearing Why would a psychological scientist study swearing? Expertise in such an area has different practical significance inside and outside the community of psychological science. Outside the scientific community, expertise on taboo language is justification for frequent consultation about contemporary issues that are perennial: Is swearing harmful? Should children be allowed to …

Swearing emerges by age two and becomes adult-like by ages 11 or 12. By the time children enter school, they have a working vocabulary of 30-40 offensive words. Read More »

Meet the CSI Effect. Due to popular TV shows exaggerating the capabilities and techniques of forensic science in criminal investigations, many jurors have begun to demand a greater amount of evidence from the prosecution during trials, raising the standard of proof needed for a conviction.

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CSI effect The CSI effect, also known as the CSI syndrome and the CSI infection, is any of several ways in which the exaggerated portrayal of forensic science on crime television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation influences public perception. The term was first reported in a 2004 USA Today article describing the effect …

Meet the CSI Effect. Due to popular TV shows exaggerating the capabilities and techniques of forensic science in criminal investigations, many jurors have begun to demand a greater amount of evidence from the prosecution during trials, raising the standard of proof needed for a conviction. Read More »

50 new shades of colours were created for the anime film Akira. This is due to the fact most of the movie takes place at night, which was a setting animators commonly avoided due to increased color requirements. In total there are 327 shades in the movie

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30 Years Later, Science Fiction Still Owes A Debt To AKIRA Threads of Katsuhiro Otomo’s influential anime can still be seen across all types of art that we consume, from the East to the West. If you’ve watched a sci-fi film made after 1988, you’ve probably interacted with something inspired by Akira. Katsuhiro Otomo’s highly …

50 new shades of colours were created for the anime film Akira. This is due to the fact most of the movie takes place at night, which was a setting animators commonly avoided due to increased color requirements. In total there are 327 shades in the movie Read More »

The rise in non-traditional sexual relations that marked the “swinging ’60s” actually began during the ’50s. Recent analysis indicates that widespread use of penicillin, leading to a 75% decline in syphilis deaths during the 1950s, launched the modern sexual era, and not the birth control pill

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9 Surprising Facts About the Scientific Study of Sex The scientific study of sex is much more exciting than an awkward sex ed class. While writing my book Sex Weird-o-Pedia, these were some of the most interesting facts about science and sex that I came across. 1. Some sex researchers didn’t want their findings to …

The rise in non-traditional sexual relations that marked the “swinging ’60s” actually began during the ’50s. Recent analysis indicates that widespread use of penicillin, leading to a 75% decline in syphilis deaths during the 1950s, launched the modern sexual era, and not the birth control pill Read More »

Archaeologists routinely find edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs – the stuff never spoils, due to extremely low water-content, very low pH, and hydrogen peroxide (made by an enzyme in the bees’ stomachs).

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The Science Behind Honey’s Eternal Shelf Life Modern archeologists, excavating ancient Egyptian tombs, have often found something unexpected amongst the tombs’ artifacts: pots of honey, thousands of years old, and yet still preserved. Through millennia, the archeologists discover, the food remains unspoiled, an unmistakable testament to the eternal shelf-life of honey. There are a few …

Archaeologists routinely find edible honey in ancient Egyptian tombs – the stuff never spoils, due to extremely low water-content, very low pH, and hydrogen peroxide (made by an enzyme in the bees’ stomachs). Read More »

The webcam was invented just because 3 people wanted to keep a check on coffee level without walking to their breakroom.

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Design Of Everyday Things #12 Brilliance of Everyday Objects Problem: Coffee less trips to break room Solution: Let’s keep a track of the coffee levels from where we are sitting The year was 1991, and the computer science faculty at Cambridge University was tired of walking all the way to the breakroom only to find …

The webcam was invented just because 3 people wanted to keep a check on coffee level without walking to their breakroom. Read More »

90% of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today.

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90% of All the Scientists That Ever Lived Are Alive Today The following paper was written and submitted by Eric Gastfriend. The information he presents is helpful to keep in mind as we consider the speed with which technologies are advancing today. This simple statistic captures the power of the exponential growth in science that …

90% of all scientists who have ever lived are alive today. Read More »

The common method for a spacecraft to shift between two orbits is called a Hohmann Transfer, and that the guy who calculated it (in 1925) was inspired by a science fiction book written in 1897, which gave a generally correct explanation of the concept of orbit trajectory

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Hohmann transfer orbit Hohmann transfer orbit, labelled 2, from an orbit (1) to a higher orbit (3) An example of a Hohmann transfer orbit between Earth and Mars, as used by the NASA InSight probe. Hohman · Earth · Mars In orbital mechanics, the Hohmann transfer orbit (/ˈhoʊmən/) is an elliptical orbit used to transfer …

The common method for a spacecraft to shift between two orbits is called a Hohmann Transfer, and that the guy who calculated it (in 1925) was inspired by a science fiction book written in 1897, which gave a generally correct explanation of the concept of orbit trajectory Read More »

Meet the joke behind NASA’s Juno mission. While Jupiter’s moons are named after the god’s many mistresses, Juno, the space probe sent to orbit and monitor Jupiter, is named after his wife.

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Kepler laid the groundwork for this amazing science joke 400 years ago — and it finally paid off Wikimedia Commons Even in the space age, a little knowledge of the classics comes in handy sometimes. If you’re a fan of Greco-Roman mythology and NASA, you may have noticed that the space probe now orbiting Jupiter …

Meet the joke behind NASA’s Juno mission. While Jupiter’s moons are named after the god’s many mistresses, Juno, the space probe sent to orbit and monitor Jupiter, is named after his wife. Read More »

The idea of black holes was first proposed in 1783 by John Michell, calling them “dark stars” and proposing a method to detect them by looking for star systems that showed the gravitational effects of two stars, but only one star was visible, which is indeed how scientists look for them today

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The forgotten genius who discovered black holes over 200 years ago Centuries before black holes became accepted science, a fat little man in 1780s Yorkshire imagined stars so massive that even light could not escape. He predicted black holes. This is the incredible story of John Michell and his “dark stars.” The Fat Little Country …

The idea of black holes was first proposed in 1783 by John Michell, calling them “dark stars” and proposing a method to detect them by looking for star systems that showed the gravitational effects of two stars, but only one star was visible, which is indeed how scientists look for them today Read More »

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